He also declared how winning the Portuguese title with FC Porto now sits alongside his Liga Profesional triumph with Boca Juniors as the two pillars of a career he is building for his daughter.
"I always thought about enjoying football, until my daughter arrived when I was 17 years old and things got very serious," Varela told La Nacion. "I had to work my socks off to give her a better life and make it to the first division."
The 24-year-old Argentine midfielder has delivered on that promise. He is a title winner in Buenos Aires and Porto. He has been named in Lionel Scaloni's 55-man preliminary squad for this summer's World Cup. And he has attracted serious interest from the Premier League, with Manchester United and Liverpool among the clubs whose attention his performances have drawn.
On the Porto title, Varela was direct about the contrast with the previous campaign.
"I think we touched rock bottom," he said of the prior season, in which the club failed to compete in any competition and made an early exit from the Club World Cup. "This year was very good because good players arrived with the right mentality and a new coaching staff that demands a lot and pays attention to every small detail."
That coaching staff includes head coach Francesco Farioli, whose appointment marked the beginning of Porto's recovery, and assistant Lucho González — himself a Porto legend and a former Argentine international.
"Having Lucho here for me is an honour," Varela said. "As a player he was extraordinary and being able to share the day-to-day with him, with him always pushing me — for me it's very beautiful. I always try to improve, to listen to him and to learn from everything he tells me."
On the transfer interest from England, with Liverpool and Manchester United keen, Varela kept his answer measured.
"I am calm and 100% focused here at Porto," he said. "All of those matters are obviously handled by my representative and at this moment I'm not thinking about that." His immediate goal, he repeated, is securing a place in Argentina's final World Cup squad.
The Portuguese title carries particular weight because of what Porto demands: "Here the fans only ask you to win titles and play well," Varela said. He noted that this season's unbeaten record against Benfica, Sporting and Braga — Porto's three main rivals — was central to the success.
He also praised club president André Villas-Boas, whose background as a coach, he said, gives him an instinct for what players need. His relationship with Juan Román Riquelme, who championed Varela throughout his time at Boca, remains warm. He recently sent the Boca president a Porto shirt.
Of Argentina's chances this summer, Varela offered a simple view: "Argentina will always be candidates while (Lionel) Messi, our number ten, is the best player in the world."